A property in the Plaka district of Athens and belonging to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports has been restored to provide exhibition space and related infrastructure for the Museum of Modern Greek Culture (MMGC). It is situated in the historic centre of Athens, between Adrianou, Areos, Kladou and Vrisakiou streets. The area has architectural remains from classical Greek and Roman antiquity and high tourist numbers. The nine buildings within the complex house the museum’s permanent installations.
New exhibition space for Museum of Modern Greek Culture in Athens
- 30 September 2019
The Museum of Modern Greek Culture, with its new museological and museographic planning, completes the restoration project of the Adrianou-Areos-Kladou-Vrisakiou building complex and aspires to offer a total cultural experience to its expanding public, both by preserving the urban palimpsest from late antiquity until today, and by featuring intangible and material modern Greek cultural heritage.
The project reviewed the MMGC’s collections and reorganised its storage arrangements. The public was consulted about what the new exhibition space should look like. Based on this, the displays were set up to combine the classical display of the artefacts with deployment of the latest IT applications.
The layout of the complex around a central courtyard, in a style identical to that of the 19th and early-20th centuries, enables visitors to experience the atmosphere of urban living in Greece during that period.
Presenting societal evolution
Established in 1918, the MMGC’s collections and number of its exhibits have increased, along with the activities and events it organises. Today, it is spread over 26 buildings and has some 25 000 functional and decorative objects. Dating from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and originating from all geographical areas with a Greek presence, the objects include items used in the home or at work as part of everyday life and traditional customs.
Taking an interdisciplinary and human-centred approach, the project has transformed the MMGC into an avant-garde ethnological and cultural museum.
Permanent exhibitions are organised into interrelated thematic units. These present and interpret the history and evolution of culture and daily life in modern Greek society.
Students and researchers thus have the chance to gain a complete picture of the course which Greece has charted in the modern era, while all visitors are encouraged to reflect on these developments and on their own place in today’s world.
A dynamic cultural strategy
Major social and political issues, including identity, otherness, collective memory, social mobility and the transition to modernity, are addressed through selected artefacts. In parallel, a dynamic cultural strategy features activities such as educational programmes, temporary exhibitions and music and theatre performances. To support this process, the museum looks to create synergies with the wider society.
The combination of the MMGC’s new museological perspective and its parallel activities has introduced new forms of cultural experience to the heart of Athens, thereby helping to make Plaka a cultural hotspot. This has a positive impact on the broader urban space, including on local businesses, and enhances the cultural and tourism sector of the entire Attica region, of which Athens is the capital.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Museum of Modern Greek Culture” is EUR 4 854 860, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 3 883 888 through the “Attica” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Environment and resource efficiency”.